Stiff Misplaced Risk from Animation

Animation in marketing materials generally increases impulse buying, especially in older people, according to studies at University of Stuttgart. Except when it has the opposite effect. This contrasting consequence was seen in a set of studies at Singapore Management University and SUNY-Buffalo. In that research, animated line-graph displays of data which unfolded over time, such as with a stock price, increased the viewer’s sensitivity to risk. The result was caution instead of impulsivity. Because of misplaced fear, an investor might forgo profitable opportunities.
     The effect does have to do with how changes in data points are interpreted, and this is influenced by culture. Researchers from New York University-Stern and Princeton University asked study participants to allocate $1,000 across a selection of stocks with varying past performance. The European-American participants were more likely than the Chinese participants to put the money into stocks which had previously shown uniform growth. The Chinese participants were more likely to invest in ambiguously-performing stocks, anticipating that a balance would lead to an uptick in the stock value for any prior underperformance.
     Advancing technologies combined with increasingly sophisticated consumer expectations lead marketers to use an abundance of animation in demonstrating the benefits of products and services on websites and in personal selling. Show special caution with these animations, marketers. It’s too easy for your audiences to be misled when mentally projecting what will happen next.
     The Singapore/SUNY researchers note that their findings were in the realm of financial decision making and that there’s reason to believe the effect of unfolding animations is different with health risk estimates. The general finding, though, is that people readily project ahead from animations which show trajectories, such as animated charts of weight loss or completion of building construction. We’re all overloaded with information, so we welcome tools that help us get to the point. Also, many consumers place extra trust in a computer-generated animation largely because the animation is using a more sophisticated technology than still pictures. “What’s newer must be better,” they say.
     Protect your organization and your consumers by staying aware of the dangers of flawed predictions from animated portrayals. Give disclaimers within the animation. Phrasing in the spirit of “Past performance is no guarantee of future results” is good. But it’s not enough. Perhaps animate the disclaimer by showing a flashing question mark at the end of the trajectory. Or show alternative directions the trend might go.

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